The first day

Health does not wait on a claim file

If danger signs are present, the medical page says to call 911. If symptoms are milder but new, or if they show up hours later, CDC’s concussion pages say a possible mild traumatic brain injury should be seen by a health care provider and that symptoms may not appear right away. This site does not rank Houston clinics and does not tell you that you are uninjured because you drove home.

Keep appointment papers and receipts in your own files. TDI’s claim guidance tells people to keep receipts. Do not upload them here. There is no upload.

Tell your own insurance company

TDI’s claim article says to file as soon as you can, with your company or another driver’s company, and to tell your own company about the accident even when someone else may pay. The same agency’s auto guide says most companies have deadlines for filing claims. Those deadlines live in the policy. This guide will not invent a universal “call within 24 hours” rule, because no official page reviewed on November 8, 2026 stated one for every policy.

Read the declarations page before you assume a coverage exists. Liability, collision, comprehensive, personal injury protection, medical payments, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage are different promises. TDI says Texas auto policies include PIP unless you rejected it in writing, and that insurers must offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, which you can also reject in writing. Your declarations page is the record of what you kept.

The crash report is often not ready

If an officer investigated a crash with injury, death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to the property of any one person, § 550.062 says that officer shall make a written report and file it electronically with TxDOT not later than the 10th day after the crash. That is the officer’s filing deadline. It is not a promise that you can download the report on day one, and it is not a deadline for you to sue.

HPD’s public records page says crash reports need 5 to 8 days of processing. HPD’s request form revised December 2025 says not to request one until at least 10 days have passed. TxDOT’s purchase guide says search can take up to 14 days to show a report. Those statements are all official, and they are not the same. The crash-reports page lines them up without picking a winner.

If no officer investigated, TxDOT says the old driver’s crash report, form CR-2, is no longer retained by the department. Drivers who were given a CR-2 or a similar local form are told to keep it for their own records. Forms sent to TxDOT are destroyed under its retention policy. HPD’s services index still lists a driver’s crash-report link. On November 8, 2026, the path that index used for that link responded with HTTP 404. This site does not tell you to file a blue form with TxDOT, and it does not claim a City of Houston ordinance requires one. Section 550.067 lets a city adopt that kind of ordinance. This draft did not verify that Houston has a current ordinance, or what it says.

Write a private account, not a public one

While memory is fresh, write the place, the time, the weather, the direction you were heading, and who was in the car. Keep that note in your own files. The checklist on this site can mark “I wrote my own notes.” It cannot hold the notes. Avoid posting another person’s license, medical details, or plate on social media. That caution is about other people’s privacy. It is not a legal privilege.